


Smash and Grab

by sanctuary_for_all



Series: Partners [3]
Category: Hawaii Five-0 (2010)
Genre: Angst and Humor, Established Relationship, M/M, Schmoop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-09
Updated: 2014-06-09
Packaged: 2018-02-03 23:28:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1759631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sanctuary_for_all/pseuds/sanctuary_for_all
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The world's most incompetent robber nearly manages to screw up the rest of Steve's life.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Smash and Grab

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into 中文 available: [抢劫](https://archiveofourown.org/works/11489559) by [stillexploring](https://archiveofourown.org/users/stillexploring/pseuds/stillexploring)



> I warned you guys you'd end up getting more of this series. :)

"A week before he died, Cohle stopped brown-bagging it and started spending his lunch hour at Imanas Tei." Chin's voice came in over the truck's hands-free speaker, brisk with potential of a real lead. "If the bill he ran up each time is any indication, he wasn't eating alone."

Which might mean they might be on their way to finding an actual suspect in the middle of all this mess. "Did we get security footage?" Steve asked, his own interest flaring as he made the turn.

"Not yet. System's old enough that it has to be picked up in person, and Kono's still out making the rounds of local gun stores."

"I'll grab it after I check on Danny." The route was familiar enough now that he could drive it on automatic pilot, leaving Steve free to work out a plan of attack. "I'll flash Cohle's picture around while I'm there – if he was that big a spender, maybe one of the wait staff will remember something the video footage couldn't pick up."

When he'd stopped by that morning – despite Danny's impassioned view on the subject, getting his Danny fix was well worth the risk of infection – his partner had been completely immobile on the living room couch, shivering under a thin One Direction blanket. Steve had dug a few more out of the closet, mixed up some herbal tea that looked like it stayed down, and joked that he'd swing by in a few hours to see if he was ready for burial. Danny had glared at him, questioned his intelligence and general sanity, and warned Steve that he'd be left to rot in his own mucus when he inevitably came down with the same thing.

Steve grinned at the memory.

"If you hover too much, you know Danny's going to regain his strength just enough to punch you," the other man warned, laughter in his voice. He and Kono had been teasing him all morning, though the fact that he had a very pregnant wife at home had made Chin far more restrained about it.

Steve's smile took on the edge of a smirk. "You sound like you're speaking from personal experience."

Chin chuckled. "What can I say? The love of my life has a mean right hook."

The call ended just as Steve was turning onto Danny's street, which was when he registered the police cars parked on the other end of the block. For another second or so, it was simply another piece of factual information, just like the flashing lights or the handful of neighbors who had already gathered to gawk.

Then it sank in that all of that was in front of Danny's house. A house, Steve realized a horrific second later, that now had a moving truck where the living room and front wall had once been. Only the back wheels were visible through the wreckage, the rest of it deep enough in the house to suggest that the driver hadn't even slowed down.

Steve's insides went cold.

He skidded to a stop near the curb, flung himself out of the truck and ran for the house as if he wasn't already far, far too late. Danny had been barely capable of movement this morning, and even if he'd somehow seen the truck coming a few seconds before it hit his reflexes would have been far slower than usual. The couch would have been directly in the truck's path, and at that distance.… Not even the best reflexes would be enough to save you.

Then a pair of uniformed officers moved away from a spot near the street, revealing a blond figure hunched over miserably on the curb. He was wearing a t-shirt, sweatpants and an expression that promised death to anyone who dared annoy him to even the smallest degree.

There was an almost physical wrench in Steve’s chest as his lungs suddenly start working again.

Danny looked up at the sound of running footsteps, making a brief, exhausted attempt to stand up. Steve was there before it could get very far, throwing his arms around his partner like he was grabbing for a lifeline, and he held on as they both carefully sank back down to the curb.

“I’m cursed,” Danny muttered miserably, leaning in to Steve and letting himself be held. “Not ‘crazy homeless person’ cursed. Actually, legitimately cursed.”

Steve forced his own heartbeat to slow down a little. He knew that was his cue for a snarky comment, but he didn’t quite trust his voice just yet.

Thankfully, Danny was willing to fill in for the moment. “Three and a half years I’ve been in Hawaii, and I’ve had exactly _one_ residence that didn’t get destroyed, condemned or have some criminal _genius_ drive through the front wall because he thought he’d hidden his guns here and apparently _missed_ the remedial ‘breaking and entering’ class at the local community college.”

Steve made a mental note to find the driver and kill him. Slowly. “Did he find the guns?”

Danny straightened at that, his flu-ravaged voice giving each word the emphasis it deserved. “No. And do you know why he didn’t? Our mastermind got the wrong _house_.”

Surprise at the revelation briefly halted Steve’s plans for vengeance, and he pulled back to stare at his partner. “Wait, what?”

“The house our genius was looking for was 2284 Mahina Drive, which isn’t even in this _neighborhood_. Apparently, he miscounted his Jack in the Box’s on the way here and made a wrong turn, which is _exactly_ the kind of thing you’d expect from a man who thinks a _truck_ is an easier solution than a _lock pick_.” His hands half-lifted to emphasize the words, impaired by exhaustion. “If he hadn’t already been in custody, I’m pretty sure I would have punched him _again_ after discovering that particular detail. That is not the kind of information I want anywhere near my obituary.”

The last word was an ice pick through Steve's insides. “Don’t even joke about that.”

Danny suddenly focused on him, expression softening. “I’m fine, babe. Really.” He lifted a hand to gently scrub his fingers through Steve’s hair, bruised knuckles visible as he moved. “At least, as fine as I was this morning. I’m sure we’ve infected you pretty thoroughly, though.”

“You cannot imagine how little I care about that right now.” Steve rubbed a hand along Danny's back. "Where were you when the truck hit?"

"The kitchen. The tea stayed down, so I thought I'd go crazy and try for some dry toast. Since that didn’t actually happen, I'm hungry enough I'm actually fantasizing about saltines."

The idea of something concrete he could do spurred Steve into action. "I'll pick some up after I drop you off at my house," he said firmly, helping Danny to his feet as he finally took a closer look at the crash scene. Not only was there plenty of structural damage, but he wasn't sure how much of what Danny had in the living room was salvageable. "Uniforms can keep an eye on the house until we can get the hole covered, right?"

"Once the crime scene is cleared, they said they'd send someone by to tarp it up," Danny replied, shifting a little of his weight off of Steve's shoulder. "Not that it'll do much. I should probably put some stuff in storage, since my renter's insurance doesn't cover 'act of moron.'"

"We'll worry about that after we have you taken care of." Steve looked down at the dress shoes Danny was wearing, which were ridiculous but had probably been the first thing he'd grabbed. "Do you have the energy to pack a bag, or would you rather wait in the truck while I do it?"

Danny searched his face, clearly looking for something. "You know this is only for a few days, right? Until I'm plague-free enough to get a hotel?"

The part of Steve not focused on taking care of his partner wondered if he was making what Danny insisted on calling his “aneurysm” face right now. “We can talk about that later.”

“There isn’t a parent in the world who doesn’t know what that actually means, Steven.” Danny’s expression suggested that yes, yes he was. "You do remember how much we aggravated each other the _last_ time we tried living together, right?"

Looking back, Steve was pretty sure he hadn't wanted Danny to move out even then, despite the fact that he hadn’t been getting fantastic sex and surprisingly great cuddling out of it at that point. He wasn't sure now was the best time to bring that up, however. "We like aggravating each other."

Danny's brow lowered, making it clear he didn't have a counterargument for that. “We still haven’t figured out a permanent solution for the water torture problem. The headphones will be fine for the first night or two, but they’re gonna be awkward when we move back into the same bed.”

Even though he knew it was ridiculous, Steve felt a quick jolt of pleasure. “You kept them?”

Danny looked faintly embarrassed. “You’re missing the point, babe. For some insane reason I actually want to make this relationship work, which means there’s no way we should put it through the stress of moving in together after only a few weeks. You’re too stoic to kick me out of your house, and if you break up with me I’m probably going to have to kill you.”

A dozen different responses crowded up into Steve’s throat. There were no circumstances, ever, in which Steve would break up with Danny, and he couldn't imagine any that would make him kick Danny out. They'd spent enough time at each other's houses over the last few weeks that they'd practically moved in together already and it hadn't caused any problems. He'd hated sleeping alone last night, and dealing with night noise and a fridge stuffed full of potential heart-attacks was more than worth never having to do that again. Living together couldn’t be half as stressful as those awful seconds where he’d been afraid there was no Danny to come home to.

None of them, however, managed to make it all the way out of his mouth, so he pressed his lips against Danny’s. His partner opened to let him in, not arguing for once, and despite the nasty flu breath and awkward angle it still somehow managed to be everything Steve had never known he’d always wanted. Just like always.

When they broke apart, Danny stared at him with a look that seemed torn between wonder and the certainty that Steve was insane. He'd been giving him that look a lot, these last few weeks. "You had to know how disgusting my mouth was going to taste."

Steve grinned. "Worth it."

Danny just looked at him another moment, then sighed. "I'm still looking for a hotel in a few days."

"Whatever you say, Danno."

The corners of Danny's mouth curved upward. "Shut up. Now, I'll talk to these nice police officers while you call Chin or Kono and remind yourself that you're still supposed to be working." He stepped away, testing his balance before moving out of arm's reach. "Then we can argue about my clothes, dump the entirety of my medicine cabinet in a bag and head home."

Steve's chest warmed at Danny's use of the last word, which somehow meant more since he was almost positive it hadn't been intentional. No, there were definitely not going to be any hotels – or any other kind of living arrangements, for that matter – in Danny's future. "I have medicine at home."

"Herbal supplements are not medicine, Steven. I need drugs strong enough to violently punch my illness in the face, which is something you should sympathize with on a personal level. Now get moving before I do something embarrassing like dry heave in front of relative strangers."

Still smiling, Steve went.

**Author's Note:**

> Come check out my original short fiction on my [blog](http://jennifferwardell.blogspot.com) or say hi to me on [Tumblr](http://sanctuaryforalluniverses.tumblr.com)!


End file.
